Hi, I'm new to this forum. Not sure if this is possible at all, but I'd like to know the meaning of some Cantonese words. This is all phonetic, so I'm not sure if this will work. (I know there are a number of ways to pronounce these phonetic interpretations, but I think these are fairly common phrases, if that helps at all in decyphering them).

joong sumkay sutgoong yowdaap beithaw yeehoy cheejing fuying guey

It will be interesting to see if anyone can make heads or tails of this. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks

I have a short question. Are you a Taiwanese-Canadian, residing in the Vancouver area? Just wondering, I can tell from your e-mail address. I'm also in the area. Now about those words. I'm able to make out a couple of them. I'll type them in Chinese characters.

Some of the words might not be right. I had to think a while about what some of these words could mean. Before I had a Cantonese dictionary I used to make my own version of Cantonese romanization. Check out some Chinese bookstores in Chinatown and Metrotown. They sell pretty well all the books on Cantonese you can find in HK bookstores.

First, to answer a few questions. No, I'm not Taiwanese. I'm a Chinese (Cantonese)-Canadian living in the Vancouver area. I was born here, my parents are both Chinese but very Westernized, and I wish I knew the language out of interest, culture and respect for my heritage.

It's amazing to see that from my rough phonetics, you were able to interpret the phrases I was trying to understand. It's not a perfect technique, but now I see that it can work! In summary, from the various responses so far, I think these following definitions appropriately match the phrases I had in mind:

"hay mong" = to hope, to hope for "gau see" = time's up/ right time (make sure you have the right tone for this; it's possible to interpret this as 'dog excrement' too, dependent on tone)"kay gwai" = strange

I have one (among many)--

/beau/ see (excuse my romanization; /beau/ as in beau yeun, to perform)

I had to think a while about what some of these words could mean. Before I had a Cantonese dictionary I used to make my own version of Cantonese romanization. Check out some Chinese bookstores in Chinatown and Metrotown. They sell pretty well all the books on Cantonese you can find in HK bookstores.